It was that time of month again, and we needed to bring Goblin to the vet to get drained.
For those of you keeping track, we brought Goblin in a month ago (around Sept. 4th) to be drained, or as the cardiologist calls it “tapped.” Previous to that we brought him in in August and argued with the local vet in Bancroft about getting him drained. The local vet drained him, but only if we were to take him to a cardiologist in Toronto.
The cardiologist recommended we put him on Solatol for his heart. We tried this and he collapsed, so we took him off the drug. Due to his kidney levels being high, she told us to use an additional diuretic, hydrochlorathizide, as a last resort. Hydrochlorathizide can cause immediate kidney failure.
We’ll we got to the point where we needed to put him on Hydrochlorathizide. We stared with 1/2 a 50mg tab twice a day. After a week when we saw he wasn’t going into kidney failure, we bumped him to 1 tab twice a day.
Nevertheless, Goblin still needed to be drained.
Dr. R. was the person who did the draining, and who was the doc we argued with previously. This time he was a real a-hole. When I picked Goblin up he explained to me that Golbin’s muscle tone was low, which means he’s not getting enough protein (hmmm– we already had this conversation and the cardiologist said fuck the high protein and drain the damn dog). He said Golbin is very uncomfortable when he gets so big [duh! That’s why we bring him in to be drained] and that the draining procedure is uncomfortable for the Gobs because he can’t be sedated [due to his heart] and they stick a big needle in [not as big as the needle they used at Aurora in Fairbanks], and that he didn’t want to do it anymore. That he’d do it one more time and then advise us to euthanize Goblin. That sometime it’s just time to let go.
What a fucker. I’ve had many dogs in my life and I can tell when it’s time for them to be put down. After the procedure, Goblin is always happy and has a health appetite. His quality of life is fine, except for filling up with fluid– which draining remedies.
You really need to see Dr Anne at East Algonquin vet clinic . 613-756-1984 . She is mind blowing ! I have had to deal with a lot of vets in my past years as a trainer and dog walker in Toronto . We are a household in L’Amable that has anything from a 15 year old chihuahua to a 18month Great Pyrenees . And she was the only vet I ever liked or trusted .
Thanks! We’ll have to try Dr. Anne.